The installation of a FlexLink Wedge conveyor, the first of its kind in Sub Sahara Africa, has increased production and realised significant savings within only two short months for private South African pharmaceutical company, Mirren (Pty) Limited, based in Gauteng. Mirren manufactures a variety of dosage forms including OSD (oral solid dosage) including conventional, sugar-coated and film coated tablets; liquids as well as, powders and specialty creams. It is also one of a few companies that manufacture effervescent tablets. Supported by a professional sales team, Mirren supplies wholesalers, pharmacies and doctors around the country as well as in Botswana,  Namibia and Swaziland. The company has distribution agreements with two multinationals to import products and manufactures products for some customers on a 3rd party basis.

Mirren adheres to the MCC (Medical Control Council)  standards. The MCC conducts inspections in accordance with the global PIC\S standard. The company does comprehensive quality control and regulatory handling of data for registration of medicines in South Africa. “The quality of our products is non-negotiable, and our Benoni plant runs at full capacity so we simply cannot compromise on the quality of our processing equipment. We install only the best equipment, and that is why we purchased the FlexLink® XL Wedge conveyor from conveyor solution specialists, Flexible Conveyor Systems (FCS) for the processing of our liquid dosage forms. Our 95 per cent uptime target meets our customers’ delivery requirements. Unplanned downtime caused by unreliable equipment failure is not an option. Opportunity cost cannot be recovered and even worse than this is stock outs. If we cannot supply customers, their shelves are empty, and their customers are dissatisfied. They lose trust in us, and we lose credibility.” Andriesse explains how the process works: “Once the empty glass bottles have passed through a blowing and vacuum machine to remove any foreign material such as dust or glass particles, the filling machine dispenses syrup solution into the clean bottles which are then capped before being moved down a substantial drop of 600mm to the accumulator for labelling.”

“To say that our previous conveyor system, a disaster that took up a lot of space, proved extremely inefficient would be an understatement,” continues Andriesse. “When moving down the 600mm drop, insufficient friction would cause the bottles to slide down the conveyor resulting in broken glass and sticky solution on the conveyor and on the floor. Adding rubber to the conveyor surface for added friction was not viable. The spilt syrup caused the chain to become sticky and to climb of the guide rail.
 Andriesse discusses the seamless solution offered by the compact 63mm wide, 2000mm long FlexLink® XL Wedge conveyor, and says  “this excellent little workhorse operates efficiently and cost-effectively, and its small footprint takes up very little space in the work area.” Each bottle is gripped by the plastic wedges on the FlexLink conveyor and safely conveyed 600mm down to the accumulator where they are labelled before being individually ‘cartoned’ and placed into shippers ready for dispatch. The FlexLink can handle 50ml, 100ml and 200ml bottles and the plastic wedges, which have an impressive pull force of up to 20 Nm, retains its shape even after gripping much larger bottles.

“This top quality compact conveyor system effortlessly manages our 60 bottles per minute capacity, and because the bottles are moved down the 600mm drop in a controlled and safe manner, we no longer experience spillages or breakages. The conveyor also requires very little maintenance and all parts are easily accessible. The substantial cost and time savings, maximum uptime and optimised production that enable us to meet our quotas on time become very clear.” Andriesse adds that the FlexLink is GMP (Good Manufacturing Process) which is vitally important in their line of business.

Business Engineering Manager of Flexible Conveyor Systems, Nico Wassermann, says that the system includes two sensors that count how many bottles per minute pass through the system to the accumulator. “Once the correct quantity (set at 60 bottles currently, but can be changed) has been reached, the system slows down or can even stop the conveyor by adjusting the speed of the two electric motors which is synchronised and monitored”. Wassermann adds that the system has been set up to accommodate future expansion of up to 20 years at Mirren. “As part of the long term development plan, the conveyor, which is currently a single line, can divert to three different lines by simply increasing the speed of the electric motors.”

Andriesse has high praise for the service provided by FCS. “When we contacted them, they conducted a site visit to determine the extent of our requirements. The team, consisting of Nico, Conrad Bornman, Application Engineer and Technician - Mdu Zwane, came up with a very intelligent yet simple solution to a complex problem. They are professional and interact with the customer, listening to their needs. Bottom line is that they deliver on all their promises.” Andriesse is so satisfied with the FlexLink solution that he plans to call on FCS to assists him with another conveyor solution at Mirren.